Nurses' Complaint Exposes a Second Death at Portimão Hospital as the Algarve Health Unit Holds Inquiries Into Every Case They Raised
Nurses at Portimão hospital have reported a second death allegedly linked to lack of care, a patient said to have gone about 24 hours unseen by a doctor. The ULS do Algarve has opened internal inquiries; the mayor and the PS leader want answers.
A second death at Portimão hospital is now under internal investigation, three days after an 87-year-old man died following a long wait in its A&E. Nurses at the hospital have reported another case of a patient who died allegedly for want of care, RTP reported on Saturday, and the ULS do Algarve (the Algarve's local health unit, which runs the region's public hospitals and health centres) says every situation the nurses described is being looked into.
For residents of the western Algarve, Portimão is the main public hospital, and its emergency department has now drawn complaints from its own staff, the town's mayor and the leader of the opposition.
What is new
According to Portimão's mayor, Álvaro Bila, the second case concerns a patient who allegedly spent about 24 hours without being seen by a doctor. In a statement reported by Lusa and carried by Observador, he called what was emerging about the A&E "extremely serious", and said the nurses' complaints about "serious problems of organisation and functioning" in the service "have to be taken seriously".
Bila asked the ULS board and the Ministry of Health to establish who is responsible and to take "urgent measures" so the hospital works normally. He said he would request an urgent meeting with the Health Minister, Ana Paula Martins, and with the ULS management.
The patient's age, the date of death and the exact allegations in the nurses' complaint have not been set out in any official statement we could read.
What the health unit says
In a reply to Lusa on Saturday, the ULS do Algarve confirmed it had received an internal written complaint about how the Portimão A&E operates, and said "all the situations described in it" led to the immediate opening of an internal inquiry to establish the facts and any responsibility. It said it would be "premature" to comment further until then.
The ULS pointed to patients staying in hospital for long periods "for social reasons" (people medically ready to leave who have nowhere to go), which it said makes it harder for others to get care. It has asked department and service heads to speed up the transfer of these patients from the A&E to the wards.
The IGAS (Inspeção-Geral das Atividades em Saúde, the health inspectorate) has confirmed an inquiry into the first death, that of the 87-year-old man, as Lusa reported. We found no public statement from the IGAS or the ERS (Entidade Reguladora da Saúde, the health regulator) on the second case. The head of the A&E was replaced this week, a move a hospital source told Lusa was not related to the first death.
Political reaction
The Socialist Party leader, José Luís Carneiro, said the Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro, must explain to the public the causes of the two deaths at Portimão hospital through apparent lack of medical care, RTP reported.
What it means for you
- You can complain about care at a public hospital to the hospital itself, in person or online, and the ERS explains how. Its call centre is 309 309 309 (9:00 to 17:30).
- Our earlier report has the background on the first death and the IGAS inquiry.
